The Noida unit of the UP special task force (STF) on Saturday arrested a 55-year-old man, suspected to be a member of the Bawariya gang. Police said that he had come to Sahibabad from Najafgarh in Delhi and was tracked by the STF. According to officers, he ventured into unlawful activities at the age of 17 and is allegedly involved in at least 21 cases of grave crimes.

The suspect was identified as Raj Kishor Baheliya, who is from Farukkhabad in UP and was living in Delhi’s Najafgarh after a major crackdown on Bawariya gangs by the STF in 2003 at Jaunpur. Various members of the gang had shifted to different places after the 2003 incident, in which seven members of the gang were killed, officers said.

“After an initial spate of crimes with his gang, the man had joined Badhshah Gurjar gang in 2000 and had committed robberies and murders in Bhind and Morena areas in Madhya Pradesh. Thereafter, he met Vinod Bawariya and joined his gang, which committed major robberies and murders in areas of Barabanki, Lucknow and Farrukhabad, in 2018,” RK Mishra, deputy superintendent of police, STF, said.

As part of the modus operandi, the gang members conducted recce of residential areas during the day posing as vendors and committed robberies during night, said officers. The suspect is also allegedly involved in heinous crimes of robberies and murders in connection with a series of cases from 1999 to 2000.

Officers said special teams were formed to track the gang members and four of them were arrested on February 3. They added that Vinod Bawariya was arrested on February 7 while another member was arrested in May, 2018 while Rakesh Kaliya, who carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was held in September, 2018.

“Two more were arrested in January and both carried Rs 50,000 reward. Raj Kishor is a hardcore criminal and the most experienced member of his gang. He played a crucial role in different robberies and murders by his gang,” Mishra said.

First Published: Feb 25, 2019 04:07 IST